Wedding feast or team-building brunch – the SelfCookingCenter has it covered
Environmentally friendly Rational SelfCookingCenter® whitefficiency® fits right in at Spains Hall, Essex
Spains Hall, home to the Ruggles-Brise family, is a beautiful old Elizabethan house set near Finchingfield, deep in the Essex countryside. Along
with the nearby stable block it was extensively renovated in 2005, transforming both buildings into complimentary and inspirational events venues. Spains Hall hosts between 80 and 100 events per year, from weddings and private parties to corporate team-building events and shoots, with up to 170 guests at a time.
Recently Spains Hall installed a new Rational SelfCookingCenter® whiteffiency® in the stable block kitchen that serves all dining areas, both in the stable block itself and the main hall.
“The kitchen is quite small,” explains Archie Ruggles-Brise, a partner in the business and son of the owner. “We were looking for something multifunctional with a big capacity and that wouldn’t take up too much space. We attended a Rational CookingLive demonstration and realised that just one SelfCookingCenter would offer us a host of different cooking processes.”
There is no in-house catering team at Spains Hall, it is done by outside caterers. Currently Spains Hall uses Tallbooth Catering, Tapenade and The Cambridge Dining Company. “This gives us the flexibility to offer guests a range of different catering options,” says Archie Ruggles-Brise. “However, it does mean that the kitchen equipment is going to be cooked in by different people, so it needs to be easy to use and easy for them to clean afterwards.
“The Rational SelfCookingCenter whitefficiency is able to do so much. We expect it to bring a whole new aspect to the business,” he says. “One thing that will come into its own is the unit’s facility to save a chef’s settings, so that dishes can be repeated no matter who is operating the SelfCookingCenter. This means that we can guarantee guests a particular menu, whoever is doing the catering. All the menu settings can be downloaded onto a USB stick for safe keeping.”
Archie Ruggles-Brise ran environmental charities before he became a partner at Spains Hall so he is well aware of the importance of conserving resources. “The overall efficiency and energy saving features of the SelfCookingCenter especially appealed to us as we pride ourselves on running the estate in a sustainable way. It’s an extremely rural environment here and we need to minimize our use of resources such as water and electricity.”
The new SelfCookingCenter whitefficiency has 30% more capacity, cuts consumption by 20% and is 30% faster than conventional combi ovens. It combines two new technologies, HiDensityControl® and Efficient LevelControl®, with the established SelfCooking Control® and the recently launched CareControl®. It also features an entirely new control panel.
Rational’s new EfficientLevel Control® (ELC) makes it easy to cook different foods at the same time, which is excellent for a varied banqueting or buffet menu. It’s very simple to use: just load up racks in the SelfCookingCenter whitefficiency and select what is being cooked and how it should be cooked for. ELC does the rest, calculating when each rack will be done and even indicating what items can be cooked together. For example, different pan-fried dishes, such as breaded food, pan fries, deep-fried foods, croquettes, grilled vegetables, along with pizza and other bakery products can all be cooked at the same time.
“Although the SelfCookingCenter is a relative newcomer at Spains Hall, staff who have used it have issued glowing reports – one said ‘it’s a joy to use’,” says Archie Ruggles-Brise.
When it comes to cleaning all they have to do is pop in the special detergent tabs as and when instructed by the control panel. Shut the door, press go and the SelfCookingCenter does the rest. It only uses about 4.5 litres of water for a thorough 3 hour wash, keeping it well in line with Spains Hall’s conservation requirements.